Price, Malin

Abstract [en]

Previously threats were conceived as being connected to wars and armed attacks on other countries. But if we observe the world today there are financial situations that, if they got out of hand, could cause severe problems for large parts of a countries population. The environment is another area where severe consequences can be expected. Buzan, Waever and de Wilde (1998:2) work from the premises that security can, and should, be applied to a wider selection of areas in society. From this stand point this Bachelor thesis will cover the discourse of threats in the inaugural addresses of USAs five most recent presidents: Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump. The inaugural address` were chosen because it is the presidents opportunity to outline their strategy and ‘set the tone’ for their term in office (Brownell 2016).Throughout the analysis there is a focus on the five sections outlined in Buzans (1991:116) analysis model: military, politics, economy, ecology and societal. The analysis frame is based on both traditional realism and more alternative security theory. There is also a comparing element to examine whether there have been any changes in the discourse, connected to threats, since the 9/11 attacks. Furthermore, the study sets out to see if any of the subjects have shown signs of becoming securitized.The result of this study shows that the discourse of threat is mainly focused around the military section. There has been a general increase in the number of threats mentioned since 9/11, although some sections have decreased. Terrorism and immigration are the two questions that meets the criteria to have undergone securitization.